Following recent online movements (e.g. #BlackLivesMatter), online
platforms became widely regarded as catalysts of social change since they
allow social agents to mobilize vast audiences. However, we argue that
their role as catalysts spans further. Disinhibition provoked by increased
anonymity online liberates individuals from their own behavioural
constraints (i.e. need for consistency) and from others’ perceptions (i.e.
need to be perceived favourably), enabling a freer expression of dissent at
the individual level, which can accelerate change at the societal level.
We tested our hypothesis with an experimental paradigm and accompanying
agent-based simulations. The paradigm was a multi-round group game with a
between-group anonymity manipulation. Participants were tasked with
reaching a consensus and incentivised for change-stimulating and
change-inhibiting behaviours (i.e. coordination, consistency, conformity),
while confederates acted as minorities overthrowing the status quo. The
agent-based model contained an agent-level social payoff function with
components resembling paradigm-induced motivations, wherein anonymity was
manipulated by varying their relative weights.
Our experimental study (n=56 participants, 6 groups) reveals that
individuals change their stances faster in anonymous settings. Applying
this insight at a larger scale, the agent-based simulations demonstrate
that anonymity allows societies to adopt innovations quicker, reach tipping
points more easily, and can thus facilitate social change.